2:5 Phoenix New York Johnson Calistri Amarildo Stroud Valot Barlow Elney 02.20.19 · Preseason

With the first 18 ready to play in the Dominican Republic, Metro used a mixture of backups, reserves, and trialists to crush USL's Phoenix Rising, 5:2.

The Arizonans went up in the 28th, but Metro responded four minutes later. Trialist Amarildo, here from southern sister of RB Brasil, smashed the ball under the crossbar. Metro got the lead right after the break, with Jared Stroud converting. They piled on more, as Florian Valot knocked in a rebound in the 49th, and Tom Barlow went five-hole in the 52nd. After Phoenix got one back, Sebastian Elney, a former Philadelphia academy player out of the University of Maryland, tapped one home in the 81st from a cross by Ben Mines.